Posing and Chroma Key Imaging System for a Jointed Doll

ABSTRACT

A system for posing and imaging a doll. A doll is provided that has a mechanical receptacle in its neck. The doll is supported by a support stand assembly that engages the receptacle. The support stand assembly has a base with a geometric center. An articulable arm is provided that has a first end and an opposite second end. The first end is connected to said base at a first hinged connection. The second end terminates with a mechanical connector that is shaped to engage the receptacle on the doll. The articulable arm attaches to the base at a point offset from its geometric center. The articulable arm contains arm sections that are joined at manually adjustable joints that can be selectively locked in place.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

In general, the present invention relates to doll stands and systems that are intended to support a doll in an upright position for posed imaging. The present invention also relates to the structure of doll and toy figure supports that are colored for chroma key imaging, so that the support does not appear in images.

2. Prior Art Description

Dolls are some of the oldest and most prolific toys. In the long history of dolls, many dolls have been made that lack the ability to stand. That is, the doll lacks the structural integrity needed for the doll to support its own weight when the doll is set on its feet. Such dolls must be leaned against another object or otherwise supported in order to appear to stand.

In the prior art, there are many doll stands that are designed to support dolls in an upright position. Many of these stands contain clamps that physically attach to the dolls. Such prior art stands are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No 479,481 to Willcox and U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,915 to Cindric. Other prior art stands have supports that engage a doll under the arms and/or between the legs. Such prior art doll stands are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,470 to Guschlbauer. The problem with such prior art stands is that the stand limits the positions of the doll as it stands. If the doll is configured into an unusual pose, such as with arms up or leaning forward, then the doll can fall away from the support stand or topple the support stand.

One common type of doll is the posable action figure. Such dolls are typically made of interconnected plastic parts, wherein the plastic parts articulate. This enables the action figure to be configured into a wide range of poses. This wide range of poses makes most traditional doll stands unusable. Rather, what has been developed are stands that interconnect with the action figure. That is, the stand has a mechanical connector at its distal end that physically interconnects with some feature on the posable figure. The interconnection point is typically the rear of the torso, so at to be near the center of gravity for the figure. Such prior art doll stands are exemplified by the commercially sold Figma™ S.H.Figarts action figure stands.

Although such prior art doll stands enable a greater range of movement in the posable figure, they severely limit the adjustability of the torso. In particular, the interconnection with the stand limits the ability of the torso to tilt and twist as the doll is posed. Furthermore, the stands are highly noticeable, especially if the posable figure is viewed or imaged from the side or the rear.

A need therefore exists for an improved stand for a posable doll that provides free movement of the torso without compromising the connection to the stand. A need also exists for an adjustable doll stand that has chroma key coloring that enables the stands to be readily removed from images of the posed doll. These needs are met by the present invention as described and claimed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is an assembly and system for posing and imaging a doll. A doll is provided that has a head and neck. A receptacle for a mechanical connector is preferably formed in the neck. However, adjacent positions can also be used. The doll is supported by a support stand assembly that engages the receptacle.

The support stand assembly has a base that can rest on a flat surface. The base has a geometric center. An articulable arm is provided that has a first end and an opposite second end. The first end is connected to said base at a first hinged connection. The second end terminates with a mechanical connector, such as a peg.

The mechanical connector is shaped and sized to engage the receptacle on the doll while maintaining the ability of the doll to rotate about the mechanical connector. The mechanical connector joins the doll to the articulable arm and enables the articulable arm to support the doll.

The articulable arm attaches to the base at a point offset from its geometric center. The articulable arm contains a plurality of arm sections between said first end and said second end that are joined at manually adjustable joints that can be selectively locked in place.

The support stand assembly can be accompanied by a backdrop. The support stand assembly and the backdrop are colored in a chroma key color that enables the posed doll to be imaged without imaging the support stand assembly of the backdrop. Substitute virtual background images can then be substituted for the backdrop and support stand assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following description of an exemplary embodiment thereof, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a support stand assembly for a posable doll;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmented cross-sectional view showing the interconnection between the support stand assembly and the posable doll;

FIG. 4 shows a full imaging system that contains the posable doll and the support stand assembly; and

FIG. 5 shows an image generated using the imaging system of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the present invention doll stand system can be embodied in many ways, only one exemplary embodiment is illustrated and described. The exemplary embodiment is selected in order to set forth one of the best modes contemplated for the invention. The illustrated embodiment, however, is merely exemplary and should not be considered a limitation when interpreting the scope of the appended claims.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the structure of a support stand assembly 10 is shown. The support stand assembly 10 has a base 12. The base 12 has a flat bottom surface 14 and a flat top surface 16. The base 12 can have any peripheral shape. In the shown embodiment, the peripheral shape of the base 12 is that of a star. However, it will be understood that a circular shape or other polygonal shapes can be used. The base 12 has a center point 18, which is in the geometric center of the base 12.

A pivot mount 20 is provided. The pivot mount 20 has an annular disk head 22 and a support pin 24 that extends from the annular disk head 22. The support pin 24 engages a hole 26 formed in the base 12. When the support pin 24 is engaged in the hole 26, the annular disk head 22 extends upwardly from the base 12. The support pin 24 is free to rotate in the hole 26. As such, the annular disk head 22 is free to rotate around a vertical axis atop the base 12. The pivot mount 20 is offset to one side of the base 12 and away from the center point 18 of the base 12. In this manner, the base 12 does not interfere with the ability of a doll 11 to stand atop the center point 18 of the base 12. The pivot mount 20 connects to an articulable arm 30. The articulable arm 30 has three arm sections, which include a first arm section 32, a second arm section 34, and a third arm section 36.

The first arm section 32 has a first end 38 and an opposite second end 39. Both the first end 38 and the second end 39 terminate with a castellated disk head 40. Pivot holes 42 are formed through the centers of the castellated disk heads 40. A first threaded knob 44 connects the first end 38 of the first arm section 32 to the pivot mount 20, therein creating a first hinged connection 46. When the first threaded knob 44 is loosened, the first arm section 32 can rotate about the first hinged connection 46 relative the base 12. When the first threaded knob 44 is tightened, the first hinged connection 46 locks into a set orientation.

The second arm section 34 has a first end 48 and an opposite second end 49. Both the first end 48 and the second end 49 terminate with a castellated disk head 50. Pivot holes 52 are formed through the centers of the disk head 50. A second threaded knob 54 connects the first end 48 of the second arm section 34 to the second end 39 of the first arm section 32, therein creating a second hinged connection 56. When the second threaded knob 54 is loosened, the second arm section 34 can rotate about the second hinged connection 56 relative the first arm section 32. When the second threaded knob 54 is tightened, the second hinged connection 56 locks into a set orientation.

The third arm section 36 has a first end 58 and an opposite second end 59. Only the first end 58 of the third arm section 36 terminates with a castellated disk head 60. A pivot hole 62 is formed through the center of the castellated disk head 60. A third threaded knob 64 connects the first end 58 of the third arm section 36 to the second end 49 of the second arm section 34, therein creating a third hinged connection 66. When the third threaded knob 64 is loosened, the third arm section 36 can rotate about the third hinged connection 66 relative the second arm section 34. When the third threaded knob 64 is tightened, the third hinged connection 66 locks into a set orientation.

The third arm section 36 is not straight. Rather, the third arm section 36 has a dog-leg shape with a slight bend 68. The third arm section 36 tapers from the bend 68 to the second end 59 of the third arm section 36. At the second end 59, the third arm section 36 transitions into a short cylindrical connector peg 70.

Referring to FIG. 3 in conjunction with FIG. 2, it can be seen that a doll 11 is provided. The doll 11 can have any shape or style, provided that the doll 11 has a plastic neck 74 and a head 75 connected to the neck 74. A receptacle hole 76 is formed in the neck 74. The receptacle hole 76 is provided low enough on the neck 74 so as not to affect the ability of the head 75 to turn or tilt on the neck 74. The receptacle hole 76 is sized and shaped to receive the short cylindrical connector peg 70 with a friction fit connection. Since the interconnection between the doll 11 and the stand assembly 10 is a single peg in a single hole, the doll 11 is still free to rotate about the center axis of the connector peg 70 while still remaining engaged with the connector peg 70.

The engagement of the doll 11 with the third arm section 36 enables the doll 11 to rotate about axis 77. The attachment of the articulable arm 30 with the base 12 enables the doll 11 and stand to both rotate about a vertical axis 78. The first hinged connection 46 enables the adjustment of the first arm section 32 relative the base 12. The second hinged connection 56 enables the adjustment of the second arm section 34 relative the first arm section 32. Lastly, the third hinged connection 66 enables the adjustment of the third arm section 36 relative the second arm section 34. Collectively, the adjustments enable the cylindrical connector peg 70 to be adjusted to any angle within a wide range of adjusted heights. This enables the doll 11 to be positioned in most any pose while still being supported by the support stand assembly 10.

Referring to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the support stand assembly 10 is part of a chroma key imaging system 80. The support stand assembly 10 is colored to be a chroma key green. The support stand assembly 10 is also used in conjunction with a backdrop 82 that is also the same shade of chroma key green. A software application 84 is provided that can be loaded onto a smart phone 86. The smart phone 86 has a camera 88. The doll 11 is attached to the support stand assembly 10 in front of the backdrop 82. The doll 11 is then imaged with the camera 88 so that the backdrop 82 occupies the full background field of view in the image. The software application 84 runs chroma key compositing software that images all colors except for the particular shade of the chroma key color used by the support stand assembly 10 and the backdrop 82. The result is that the support stand assembly 10 and the backdrop 82 are not imaged by the camera 88. The result is that the image 92 of the posed doll 11 is isolated.

Referring to FIG. 5 in conjunction with FIG. 4, it will be understood that utilizing the application software 84, a substitute background image 90 can be selected by a user. The substitute background image 90 can then be substituted as the background of the isolated doll image 92. The result is a composite image 94 of the posed isolated doll image 92 layered in front of the selected substitute background image 90. The support stand assembly 10 and the backdrop 82 do not appear in the final composite image 94.

It will be understood that the embodiment of the present invention that is illustrated and described is merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art can make many variations to that embodiment. For instance, the doll can have may shapes and styles. The support stand assembly can be adjusted in length to match the needs of a particular sized doll.

All such embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An assembly for posing a doll, said assembly comprising: a doll having a neck and a receptacle hole formed in said neck; a base having a geometric center; an articulable arm having a first end and a second end, wherein said first end is connected to said base at a first hinged connection, and wherein said second end terminates with a single peg; wherein said peg is shaped and sized to engage said receptacle hole on said doll with a friction fit, therein joining said doll to said articulable arm and enabling said articulable arm to support said doll.
 2. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein said first hinged connection is offset from said geometric center of said base.
 3. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein said articulable arm contains a plurality of arm sections between said first end and said second end that are joined at a plurality of adjustable joints.
 4. The assembly according to claim 3, wherein each of said plurality of adjustable joints can be selectively locked into a fixed orientation.
 5. The assembly according to claim 4, wherein each of said adjustable joints has a manually adjustable knob for selectively locking each of said plurality of adjustable joints into said fixed orientation.
 6. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein said doll is free to rotate about said peg when said peg is engaged with said receptacle hole.
 7. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein said base and said articulable arm have a chroma key color.
 8. The assembly according to claim 7, further including a backdrop that is positionable adjacent said base.
 9. The assembly according to claim 8, wherein said backdrop has a color that matches said base and said articulable arm.
 10. An assembly for posing a doll, said assembly comprising: a base having a geometric center; an arm having a first end and a second end, wherein said first end is connected to said base and wherein said second end terminates with a single peg; a doll having a receptacle hole formed therein; wherein said peg is shaped and sized to engage said receptacle hole on said doll, therein joining said doll to said arm and enabling said arm to support said doll.
 11. The assembly according to claim 10, wherein said arm is connected to said base at an adjustable connection that is offset from said geometric center of said base.
 12. The assembly according to claim 10, wherein said arm is articulable and contains a plurality of arm sections between said first end and said second end, wherein said plurality of arm sections are joined at a plurality of adjustable joints.
 13. The assembly according to claim 12, wherein each of said plurality of adjustable joints can be selectively locked into a fixed orientation.
 14. The assembly according to claim 13, wherein said each of said adjustable joints has a manually adjustable knob for selectively locking each of said plurality of adjustable joints into said fixed orientation.
 15. The assembly according to claim 10, wherein said doll is free to rotate about said peg when said peg is engaged with said receptacle hole.
 16. The assembly according to claim 10, wherein said base and said arm have a chroma key color.
 17. An assembly for posing a doll, said assembly comprising: a base having a geometric center; an articulable arm having a first end and a second end, wherein said first end is connected to said base and wherein said second end terminates with a mechanical connector, wherein said articulable arm contains a plurality of arm sections between said first end and said second end that are joined at a plurality of adjustable joints; a doll having a receptacle for engaging said mechanical connector, therein joining said doll to said articulable arm and enabling said articulable arm to support said doll in a variety of poses.
 18. The assembly according to claim 17, wherein each of said plurality of adjustable joints can be selectively locked into a fixed orientation.
 19. The assembly according to claim 17, wherein said mechanical connector enables said doll to rotate about said second end of said articulable arm. 